Eve has light eyes, blonde hair and is somewhat shy when she speaks. She is a new guest at the only five-star-hotel in Erbil. The 20-year-old Iraqi looks clearly different, than the majority of her compatriots.

She is a Chaldean who left Baghdad a month ago and came to the north , "The situation for the Christians in the capital had become intolerable." says Eve. Her father sent the family into the Kurdish region to spare them the terror, riot and hard living conditions which have become daily routine in the capital -he remained in Baghdad. Eve's family situation is similar to that of most Christians in Iraq. They have fled to the Kurdish region or have left the country on their way to Jordan, Syria or even the USA or Europe.

30,000 Christians have left Iraq since April says Yonadam Kanna, the representative of the 850,000 chaldo-assyrian union. Chaldeans are Catholics who formerly belonged to the Church of the East also known as Nestorians those who continued as part of the old church are called Assyrians. Altogether Christians living in Iraq presently total about one million.

"Exodus is a matter of great concern and seems to continue as long as the chaos and disorder prevails." says the 53-year-old Assyrian with serious look on his face. Nevertheless he requests that his Christian compatriots to remain in Iraq in anyway possible. "We have lived in this country for thousands of years and it is our homeland," he says.

Christians have abandoned Iraq even before. Between 1991 and 2002, 300,000 of them migrated out of the country. When Saddam Hussein lost the Kuwait-war it became a turning point. His policies were anti-secular, anti-west, anti-Christian. It was then when he added the slogan »Allahu' Akbar« (allah is great) on the iraqi flag. Selling alcohol was forbidden in the Casinos, pub and nightclubs. "Many of us lost our livelihood during that time," explains Yonadam Kanna who lived as fugitive at that time. He has never lived abroad, instead took refuge in the Kurdish Autonomous zone and was a minister in the government of the region.

After Saddam's fall his followers have resorted to the killing and kidnapping of the christians. So far some 200 have been kidnapped and more than 100 murdered." "It is done mostly by the Fedaiuon of Saddam who are brutal criminal without scruple and moral considerations". Some 60,000 criminal, who were also freed by Saddam from prisons just before the American invasion in addition international terrorists continue to stream into Iraq along the uncontrolled boundaries.